


Celebration

by LeeLooDallasMultiPass



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-29
Updated: 2012-04-29
Packaged: 2017-11-04 12:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/393821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeLooDallasMultiPass/pseuds/LeeLooDallasMultiPass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve had an endgame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Celebration

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic. Ever. Any and all comments, concrit, advice, etc., would be greatly appreciated!

Steve cautiously manoeuvred through the traffic, maintaining a safe distance while still keeping the other vehicle in sight.He knew he had to be extra careful; if he was spotted, his cover would be blown and the whole situation would come crashing down around his head.He questioned the wisdom of his actions, questioned his own motives, not for the first time since he’d started the tail.

He thought back to a couple of hours earlier at HQ, everyone getting ready to leave for the weekend after a long day of catching bad guys and keeping Honolulu safe.They’d all planned to go out for drinks together to celebrate their latest bust but, at the last minute, Danny had begged off, pleading a headache and nausea.Nobody had questioned it; Danny _had_ seemed a bit jittery and short-tempered that afternoon.But Steve had been disappointed about missing out on the expected down-time with his friend.

More and more, recently, Steve had found himself missing Danny when they weren’t together.He’d begun finding excuses to be near him when they were working, to spend time with him when they weren’t, and to call him when they were apart.He knew he was acting like an infatuated teenager and he should stop before someone noticed and figured out his secret, but he hadn’t been able to do it yet.

So he’d been fairly proud of himself today when he’d said “goodnight” and “feel better” to the blond detective and gone off to the bar with Chin and Kono to have a fun, Danny-free evening.That lasted for just over an hour and a half.

He’d started to worry about his partner.What if he was really sick?What if he was injured and didn’t realize it?That last take-down this morning had been pretty physical.Maybe Danny had hit his head and not said anything.What if he had a concussion?It would explain the headache and nausea.What if he needed help and couldn’t get to the phone or had passed out?

By the time Steve had finished his internal dialogue, he’d come to the conclusion that he needed to go check on Danny, just to be safe.It was what any good partner would do, right?He’d bid his co-workers a good night, telling them he was tired and maybe he thought he just might look in on Danny and make sure he was okay.He’d tried to convince himself that Kono’s eye-roll and the look the cousins had exchanged as they’d waved goodbye to him had nothing to do with his lovesick behaviour.

All the way to Danny’s apartment, he’d worried over what condition he might find his friend in.As he’d approached his destination, he’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he’d nearly missed a familiar blond head, behind the wheel of a familiar silver car, as it pulled out of the parking lot and passed him going in the opposite direction.Startled, he’d watched the tail-lights receding in his rear-view mirror for a moment before executing a sudden u-turn and following in their wake.

He kept telling himself that this was a bad idea, that it was crazy, damn near stalkerish, in fact; that he had no right to follow Danny around, to pry into his personal business.He just didn’t seem to be able to make himself listen.Now, fifteen minutes and a couple of unexpected turns later, his internal dialogue was becoming decidedly external.

“Where the hell are you going?We’ve already passed at least two pharmacies so you’re not getting medication.This is the wrong direction for the hospital, thank god, so you’re not going to the ER,” and he felt a wave of relief over that.“So, what are you up to?”

As if in answer, the car up ahead slowed and pulled into a parking space.Keeping his distance, Steve slipped into the first available spot and considered their location.He was quite familiar with the area.There were several bars and nightclubs on this street and not much else open this late.

“I guess you’re not sick, after all,” Steve muttered.“Why did you lie?“ Anything he might have said next died on his lips as he saw Danny step out of the Camaro.He swallowed hard as he took in the tight, faded blue jeans and form-fitting black t-shirt.His cargo pants suddenly felt a size too small as he watched Danny cross the street, demonstrating just how amazing his ass looked in the worn denim.

_ “A date?” _ he wondered briefly, but dismissed the notion almost instantly.Danny would dress up for a date.He’d probably wear a tie just to go for coffee.What he was wearing now looked more like a walking seduction….

Steve’s stomach knotted sharply as he finally understood.Danny was going into one of these clubs to pick up a stranger and get laid!

Steve was out of the truck and halfway across the street before he even realized he’d made the decision to go after Danny.His heart was pounding and he wasn’t sure exactly what he planned on doing, he just knew he couldn’t stand the thought of Danny going home with some strange woman.

A loud burst of Lady GaGa reached his ears as Danny pulled open a door and vanished inside.Steve doubled his pace, looking up at the sign over the door.He stumbled to a stop as he recognized the name of the club, _Ho`olaule`a_.What was Danny doing in a gay bar?His pulse raced as he considered the implications.

Unless Danny had gone into the wrong club by mistake — and, judging by his appearance and confident stride, it was no accident — Steve’s partner, the man he’d been trying to hide his attraction to for so long, his straight-laced, by-the-book Danno, was into guys, too!

His heart gave a lurch and he grinned like an idiot as hope surged through him… then stuttered and stalled.The grin was rapidly replaced by a scowl when he thought about Danny, in that club, picking up some random guy for sex.

“No way in hell!” he growled, reaching for the club door.

Despite all the times Danny had called him a Neanderthal, Steve had no intention of just charging in and forcibly removing his partner.He had an endgame here and it didn’t include infuriating Danny by publicly humiliating him.This would require subtlety and, luckily, Steve could do subtle.

With a nod of acknowledgement to the large Samoan doorman, he slipped into the crowd.Using all his super-SEAL ninja stealth, Steve scouted the room, located Danny, found the perfect position to monitor him from without being spotted in return, where he could easily wave off any unwanted advances of his own before they’d really begun, and snagged a beer from a passing waiter, settling in to survey the situation.

Danny was standing alone at a small bar table, against a pillar and just off to the side of the dance floor.And he seemed to be alone by choice because, as Steve witnessed over the course of several minutes, he appeared to politely decline multiple offers, regardless of the enthusiasm or attractiveness of the admirer.

Steve started to relax, thinking maybe he’d misunderstood Danny’s reason for being there.Then a tall, dark-haired man in a blue shirt spoke to him and Danny responded, smiling.Steve tensed up again, alert to every movement, every nuance of face and body.He didn’t like it when the other man ran his fingers across Danny’s cheek and into his hair.Apparently, Danny didn’t either, considering the way he pulled back and stopped smiling.A few more words were exchanged, tersely, if Steve was any judge of Danny’s moods, and the man in blue walked away.

Taking a swig of his beer, Steve settled back and watched a few more rejections over the next little while.Eventually, Danny smiled again and started up a conversation with another tall, dark-haired man.Steve sat up in interest, a faint tingle stealing up his spine.Now _this_ was intriguing.It looked like Danny just might have a type – a very specific type.

After a few minutes, as Steve expected – because, no way was this guy gonna measure up – the second contestant was voted off and graciously departed.Only two more incomplete passes from non-brunets, and Bingo!Tall, dark-haired Bachelor #3 was waved in for a landing.

_ “Boy, am I mixing my metaphors!” _ Steve thought, with a satisfied laugh.He was feeling slightly light-headed and knew it had nothing to do with the single beer he’d only half drunk, and everything to do with finding out that Danny’s type was him!

He turned his attention back to Danny’s latest suitor and his smile faltered a little.Other than being a few years younger and wearing his hair slightly longer, this man was almost a perfect match for Steve.His face wasn’t really similar but he was the same in height and body type, sporting tattoos on both arms, and even wearing a tight polo shirt that showed off his toned chest and abs.And Danny didn’t seem to be finding any fault with this one.

Danny and Polo-boy were getting far too close for Steve’s liking.That dark head was bent almost cheek-to-cheek with the blond one, and his lips might actually have brushed Danny’s ear as he murmured something that made the smaller man smile even more and nod eagerly.Steve gathered himself, ready to mobilize and step in if need be, but the pair just moved to find space on the dance floor.

Steve stared at his still-half-full beer bottle and began to pick at the label as he thought.He needed a plan to get rid of his doppelganger; a quiet, non-violent plan, despite the somewhat savage notions running through his brain right now.

He glanced back up at the dance floor and froze – total vapour lock.The beer bottle slipped from his numb fingers, bouncing unnoticed off his boot and rolling across the floor, trailing foam.His mouth hung slightly open and he even seemed to forget to blink as all the blood in his body rushed to the most intense erection he’d ever had, because—

_ “Holy shit!Where the fuck did Danny learn to move like that?” _ He was rooted to the spot, couldn’t stop staring as his partner’s hips did sinful things that would make a male stripper blush.But then a strong pair of hands slid around to grip those hips, that dark head leaning down to brush Danny’s ear again, and something inside Steve snapped.

He saw red as McGarrett-Lite jerked his head towards the door, waiting for Danny to nod in agreement and lead the way off the dance floor. _“Screw subtle!”_ Steve forced down his growing homicidal rage and moved to intercept them before they reached the exit.

“Hey, Danny,” he said coldly as he stopped in front of the shorter man, forcing him to an abrupt halt.“Who’s your friend?”

“Steve!” Danny gasped, clearly shocked by his partner’s presence.“What are you doing here?”

Steve ignored the question and brushed past Danny, right into his pale substitute’s personal space.

“Uh, hey, I’m Leo.And you are?” the man asked, backing up a step.

Steve pressed right back into the bubble that the step had been meant to create between them, speaking low enough that only Leo would hear.“I’m his partner.”He fed every ounce of jealousy, rage and murderous intent that seethed inside of him into his next words.“Leave.While you still can.”

He was vaguely aware of strong hands pulling on his arm, Danny’s voice calling his name muffled by the blood rushing in his ears, and he sneered as he watched Leo stumble away and vanish into the crowd.He slowly turned and looked down at his partner, the sneer still lingering.

“What the hell, McGarrett?!”Red-faced, Danny stabbed his finger into Steve’s chest.“Do you have a problem with my sexual preferences, Steven?Are you going to judge me, now?Stick me into some sort of Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell-induced stereotype?Tell me how wrong in the head I am?”

“What?No!Of course not, Danny!I’m not like that!”Steve was shocked by the accusation.It had never occurred to him that Danny might see his actions as some sort of homophobic attack and he really wished he’d held his temper in check.“I just didn’t think you were—“

“Gay?Why would you?You thought, because I was married to a woman and fathered a child, I’m obviously straight, right?But it’s not always that simple, Steve.Not everything is so black and white.You see what you expect to see – just a normal, everyday guy who fits into his little clichéd niche in life.Who follows the rules, goes by the book, never has inappropriate feelings about his—“Danny stopped, looked at the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, and took a deep breath.

Steve’s pulse jumped at what Danny had almost said but he let it go, for now.“I was going to say, I didn’t think you were the one-night-stand type.”

Danny’s head snapped back up.“Wha—?Why would—?How do you know he’s not my boyfriend or something?”

“First of all, I see you every day, Danny.I think I’d know if you were in a relationship.”Steve shrugged.“Besides, I saw when he started talking to you.I know a pick-up when I see one.And I’m pretty familiar with your body language by now.I could tell you’d never met him before.”

“Wait.You saw us start talking?”Danny looked around, wide-eyed.“How long have you been here?Were you watching me?What the hell, Steven?!”

“Well, I—uh—“Steve stuttered, certain that revealing his stalkerish behaviour would only make matters worse right now and deciding to fudge things a little. “I was driving by and I saw you come in here and I thought, you know, since you’re still pretty new to the area, maybe you didn’t know what kind of bar it was, so… I followed you in to tell you.”

“You followed me in.To tell me?”Danny snorted skeptically.

“Yeah.”Steve crossed his arms defensively across his chest, standing his ground.

“That I was in a gay bar?”

“Sure.Why not?”

“Because I’m so mentally obtuse, I wouldn’t notice that on my own?In a bar full of men?”Danny gestured wildly towards the dance floor with one hand.“Men dancing with other men?”His other hand waved in the general direction of a couple currently getting to know each other _much_ better.“Making out with other men?I’m such a freaking lousy detective that I wouldn’t figure it out without you riding to my rescue?!”

“No!Danny, that’s not what—“

“So why didn’t you, Steven?”Danny interrupted him.

“What?”

“Why. Didn’t. You.Tell.Me?”Danny punctuated each word with a poke to Steve’s chest. “If you were rushing in here to save me from my own ineptitude, why didn’t you come and inform me of my error?”

“Danny, I don’t think you’re inept!I was just— it was—look, by the time I got in here, you’d vanished into the crowd.I had a hard time finding you.”

“Bullshit, McGarrett! _Lt. Commander_ McGarrett.Navy-fucking-SEAL.”Again with the chest poking for emphasis.“You knew exactly where I was within a minute of walking through that door, didn’t you?Didn’t you?So, why did you just sit and watch me like some creepy stalker?”

Steve flinched at the description that echoed his own earlier thoughts.He turned his face away, wishing he hadn’t screwed things up so badly.Maybe it was time for the truth.At this point, he couldn’t make things much worse, could he?

“Well, Steven?I’m waiting for an explanation here!”

He turned back and his eyes locked with Danny’s.With a rush of emotion, he gave in and told the truth.“Look, you were clearly here deliberately, so there was nothing to tell you.And you obviously came here with the intention of picking up some random guy to have sex with.I couldn’t allow that!”

“Allow?You couldn’t allow that?!”Danny squawked, waving his hands indignantly.

“No, Danny, I couldn’t!You shouldn’t be out fucking total strangers!You’re better than that!”Steve clenched his fists tightly at his sides, fighting the urge to shake some sense into his partner.

“Fuck you, you arrogant son of a bitch!What gives you the right to judge me?” he yelled, poking Steve in the chest again.

“Damn it, I wasn’t judging—“

“Shut the fuck up!Who the hell do you think you are, telling me who I’m allowed to sleep with?”He slammed his open palms into Steve’s chest, knocking him back a step.

Steve surged right back and loomed over the smaller man.“I’m your partner!”

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” a deep, no-nonsense voice interjected.Startled, they looked up at the bouncer.“I’m going to have to ask you two to take your little lover’s quarrel outside.”

Steve looked around the room, noticing for the first time how the area around them had cleared out and the other patrons were watching them cautiously.

“No problem.I’m outta here!”Danny snarled, turning on his heel and storming out of the bar.

“Danny!”Steve started after him but found his way suddenly blocked by the bouncer.

“You know, I’ve seen him in here before.Always with the same type of guys,” he looked Steve up and down, pointedly, “but he’s never left with anyone.If that helps.”He moved out of the way again.

Steve smiled, the news cheering him immensely.“Yeah, I think it does.Thanks, brah.”He ran to catch up with his partner before he could drive away.

“Danny!”He caught up with him about halfway to the car and reached for his shoulder.“Danny, wait!”

Danny spun to face him, knocking his hand away.“Don’t!Just... don’t.Being my partner does not give you the right to control my life!”

“I know.That’s not what this was about, I swear.”

“So, what was it about then, Steven?‘Cause I’d really like to know what is so broken in that head of yours that you could think any of what just happened is acceptable.”

“I’m sorry, I really messed up.”Steve ran a hand down the back of his head and rubbed the nape of his neck.“I just— I care about you and didn’t want you to do something you’d regret.You’re not a one night stand kind of guy.”

“What, my life you’re willing to risk on a daily basis but my virtue needs protecting?”He shook his head.“Let’s face it, I think we just proved that you don’t really know what kind of guy I am.”

“Of course I do, Danny.You’re a great guy.You’re an amazing father, a brilliant detective, and a loyal friend.You’d do anything for the people you care about.And even though you try to hide it with that tough Jersey exterior, I know, deep down inside, you’re a romantic.You want someone to share your life with, not just your bed.” He paused, glancing back towards the bar.“I admit, I had no idea that someone might turn out to be a man.How come you’ve never said anything?”

“It’s complicated—“

The blare of a horn cut Danny off as a car sped past, less than two feet away.

“Uh, maybe we should get out of the middle of the street,” Steve suggested, guiding Danny towards the Camaro with a hand at the small of his back.

Stopping by the driver-side door, Danny stared at his reflection in the window for minute before turning to face Steve.“Look, I like women, okay?Curves, long legs, soft lips; most of the time, that’s what I’m attracted to.But sometimes…” his eyes skittered away, refusing to meet Steve’s, “sometimes it’s men.”

Steve didn’t miss the significance of Danny’s evasive look, and smiled. _“It’s now or never,”_ he thought, stepping in close.“I don’t have the curves but I do have long legs.”

“What?”Danny’s head came up sharply.

Steve leaned into Danny’s body, a hand on either side resting on the roof of the car, effectively trapping him.“I have soft lips, too.”

Danny’s eyes locked on Steve’s mouth and he licked his own lips nervously, sending a rush of desire straight to Steve’s groin.“What are you doing?”

“I was watching you, Danny.I saw which guys you turned away... and which ones you didn’t.”He grinned as Danny looked up, slightly wild-eyed and breathless.“I may not be the detective you are, but I’m not blind.”

Closing the distance between them, he covered Danny’s mouth with his own in a gentle kiss; a barely-there brush of lips, a soft exhalation of breath.He started to pull back but Danny’s hands snaked up his ribs to clutch at his shoulders and drag him back in.

Danny wasn’t nearly as tentative as Steve had been.His tongue flicked across Steve’s bottom lip before teasing its way inside his mouth.The small noise Steve made, deep in his throat, was all the encouragement Danny seemed to need and he deepened the kiss, curling one hand around the back of Steve’s neck, the other sliding down and around to the small of his back, pressing his hips against Danny’s growing erection.

“God, Danny!” Steve gasped when they finally broke the kiss, lifting his hands to cup Danny’s face.“I’ve wanted this for so long, you have no idea!”

“How long?” Danny asked, huskily.

“Maybe since the moment I met you.”Steve grinned, touching his forehead to Danny’s.“Definitely since you punched me in the face.”

With a bark of laughter, Danny pushed Steve back playfully.“That’s pretty twisted, babe.I always said you were insane.”

“Oh, really?” Steve smirked and jerked a thumb back towards the bar.“And how long have you been going out, picking up Steve surrogates?”

“Okay, okay.You got me, there.”Danny held his hands up in mock surrender.“So, we both have issues, I guess.”

“How about we go back to my place and celebrate our mutual issues, together?” Steve smiled suggestively.

“Sounds good to me,” Danny smiled back.He hesitated, though, and his expression became earnest as he held Steve’s gaze.“I never did, you know.Pick anyone up.”

Steve’s grin turned smug as he drew Danny back into his arms.“Of course not.Who could compare to the real thing?”


End file.
